Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre

Six Suites employing obligato bass, rendering in effect Sonates en trio, a form which had not yet found expression in France. Recorded at Pony Tracks Ranch, Portola Valley, California. Peter Nothnagle, engineer, Joseph Spencer, producer

Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre rose to prominence at the early court of Louis XIV as a child prodigy, dazzling the young king with her prowess at the harpsichord. She was four. She remained a royal favorite throughout Louis’ reign, composing chamber music and an opera, and hosting salons in her Paris apartments. The recording is unusually full and rich in sound, the three instruments constantly displaying the composer’s wealth of invention and genius for sound.